Help Kenyan Kids Take Exams (They want to! Really!)

Even a small donation will make a big difference!

ONE OF THE SPONSORS from Australia wrote this; I could not have said it better myself! 

"Another plea for a couple dollars for "my" Kenyan children.

I know everyone's giving budget is stretched to the limit, but I'm hoping you can spare another $2 or $3 for a worthy cause.

For the past six years I've been involved with what is now called Plant-a-book International (formerly called Kenya Kids in Need) charity. I'm currently paying for the education and lodging for two teenage orphans who live at Galilee School in Sowete-Kayole slums of Nairobi, and for the education of three other students who live in the slums nearby. The school is the creation of a man who was a sponsored child himself.

The school has developed to the point where in 2009 the first graduating high school class took their final high school exams. (Every student passed!)
But while primary education is free in Kenya, secondary education is not. At Galilee, the neediest and orphan students mostly have overseas sponsors, for the rest, where most slum families live on $1 USD a day, it is a struggle to keep students at school and not contributing to the family income.

The Kenyan government charges $85 USD each for the students to take their final exams, and Plant-a-book International is trying to provide for as many students as possible to take the exams. (The headmaster also raises money from local businesses and slum families.) The time for payment is drawing near, and it would be tragic if these hopeful students were not able to sit their final exams.

These kids work so hard to do well...they have to share textbooks, they have no electricity to study at night, so they come to school at 6am to work; they form study groups and work together on Saturdays to help each other through the curriculum, and their courses are so much harder than Aussie ones...EVERY student has to do the equivalent of extension maths, for example, and they all study Shakespeare in English, which is usually their second or third language.

Having the high school certificate makes a huge difference to employment prospects for these students. The top 10% are eligible for a uni scholarship. Even a poor pass opens the possibility of an office job rather than being a maid or a street seller, thus breaking the poverty cycle for whole families.

If you can spare a couple of dollars you can use the PayPal donation button at http://www.plantabook.org You'll be donating in US dollars, which are close to parity with $AUS at present.

Think of the karma! Thanks for reading."

Sponsors urgently needed!!

I OFTEN MENTION Compassion International in my blog posts, but I want to give a shout out to another of my favorite sponsorship organizations: PlantaBook International. Our story is a modern-day miracle: One little school in Nairobi (Galilee School), with caring people from all over the globe supporting them through the Internet!

When you sponsor a child through PlantaBook (for as little as $12.50/month!), you also become part of an active, caring community of sponsors. You will get to know other sponsors as friends, all the while banding together to support the sweetest bunch of kids on the planet as they struggle to obtain an education.

Several things set this program apart, besides the fact that it truly is a grassroots effort, and a very successful one at that!--

My little Elvis, with the school supplies and school bag I bought for him

*The online store: This is part of the PlantaBook website and allows you to purchase items, from school uniforms and shoes and textbooks to umbrellas, mosquito nets, and soccer balls! Everything is purchased locally, so you are helping the local economy as well as your sponsored child. Added bonus: You get a photo of your child with the item you bought. Every time! 

Fanuel

*Fanuel: Fanuel, the director of the school, is (in my opinion) an angel on earth. You cannot be involved in Galilee without getting to know Fanuel and feeling privileged for the chance to do so.

Here is the latest "New Year's" message from Fanuel. Read it and then go to PlantaBook.org and get on board! 

Dear Sponsors and Friends,

The new year is here. 2012 has been successful for us and hope that 2013 will be even better.

Our prayers and wish is that more and more sponsors come forward to sponsor children both at WHS, GPS and HH for it is the sponsorship that has kept these children in school, put books in their hands, keep teachers in class and so much more. It enables the children to learn well and before our own eyes transformation of our poverty stricken community is taking place and soon and very soon light will be showing at the end of the tunnel. What we most need at the moment is to have more children sponsored so that we can help our community. On this may I take this opportunity to urge our sponsors whose children did the KCSE exams last year or are no longer coming to our schools to consider sponsoring another needy child, we all reach out to our friends, family, colleagues, church, etc. and spread the word, for the more sponsors we get we shall be able to keep so many more children in school and many lives will be transformed in the process.

This year our priorities are in improving the school infrastructure, ie our primary school classrooms, being that they are temporary they are not comfortable for children to learn in during rainy season because of leaking. Then we need to purchase the remaining plots of land and sanitary facilities.

At the same we would like to do some purchasing of textbooks and other teaching aids in areas we feel our children are not performing well, e.g mathematics, so as to improve their performance.

Thank you so very much. I wish you and your families a happy and successful year 2013.

God bless

FANUEL

Fanuel Okwaro
The Director
Galilee Primary School, WHS and Holly House Children's Homes

Letters!

AFTER A LONG Letter Drought, I received letters from EIGHT of our sponsored kids in the last 2 days. What fun!

By far my favorite was from our newest addition, little Agartha in Ghana. Agartha is 6, and cute as a button. Adding her to our "family" was a total leap of faith and probably an unwise financial decision, but she has touched my heart in such a big way. (And, coincidentally, my freelance work seemed to "magically" increase as soon as I took her on. God is funny.)

Every letter I have received from Agartha gives me something to ponder, or even worry about. She is intriguing.

The initial letter mentioned that she was glad to be sponsored because she has "no good caretakers." The information from Compassion says that her mother died, and she lives with her father and grandmother. I wonder if the phrase "no good caretakers" was Agartha's, or if the caseworker doing the writing was letting me know something...

The next letter said Agartha was "proud, because now she can walk to the Center all by herself."

When my daughter was six, I didn't really let her out of my sight! I wonder how far little Agartha is walking by herself, and whether it's safe for her to do so?

This letter raised even more questions about my little girl. It was a thank you letter for birthday money I sent to her. The letter says she bought "a traveling bag, drinks, and biscuits." It also said that it "helped her father to save money for other family members." Hmmmm....

But here's my favorite (besides the picture of this little peanut with a suitcase big enough to hold her!): "She says the traveling bag will help her convey her clothes and other things when she wants to travel."

Awwwww... So, I know that the Compassion people help the kids pick out things to buy with their gift money. I'm picturing them trying to steer Agartha toward clothes, or toys, or blankets--things that would be actually useful to a child who may never get the chance to travel. I picture Agartha insisting that this is what she wants, and she IS going to travel!

My job? To absolutely encourage her in this dream. I'm thinking of putting together little booklets about various places she could travel to. Maps, photos, interesting facts... It could be fun! And she could start a little library of her plans and dreams to be a traveling kinda girl.

If anyone would like to contribute information or pictures about the place you live, I will absolutely pass them on to this sweet girl. It would be so neat to make Agartha feel that there are a whole collection of people in the world who support her dream of traveling! If you leave a comment saying you will help, I will send my snail mail address... or we can work entirely by email--I'm flexible!

Paper Bracelets!

SO MAYBE YOU READ the last post and are thinking, "But I sponsor older kids. My teenaged kids wouldn't want finger puppets!" Most of my sponsored kids are in the 14-15 age group as well, and it did feel a lot easier to send things when they were younger!

I don't think I ever made one THIS long...

So I went searching, and, as it turns out, on a walk down memory lane! Anyone remember making chains from gum wrappers? This was a Big Deal in about 6th grade (OK, maybe even later than that.). I remember my friends and me trying to see how long we could make our chains. The boys in class would donate gum wrappers to whichever girl they liked at the time (in 6th grade, everything is a popularity contest.). When I could talk my mom into buying me a giant pack of Wrigley's Doublemint, it was like Christmas!--a treasure trove of materials for my chain! (Remember when they stopped including colored paper wrappers in the big packs of gum and used plain white ones instead? Boo!)

This site will show you how to make the good ol' gum wrapper type bracelet....

But I found this website, with instructions for slightly more complicated chains, made with paper of your choice. I won't repeat the instructions here, because they are very good on the website, but I think these made a great option for sending to my sponsored teenagers!

First, the paper. We found this beautiful tiny origami paper at Michael's:

Michaels has all kinds of amazing papers... Wrapping paper would also be an option--I'm imagining some really cute Christmas bracelets!

Cut the paper into strips (they need to be in a 1:4 ratio):

Follow the instructions at "Inna's Creations" and start creating!

Lilia has now been inducted into the Secret Society of Gum-Wrapper Folders. It's quite an honor.

The finished bracelets are really quite pretty!

We started with the more muted papers.

And then progressed to the brighter colors!

The finished bracelets seem quite forgiving (ie, you could squash them flat to mail to Compassion, and they won't be worse for the wear). Voila! It's flat... it's paper... but it's a way to send jewelry to your sponsored kids!

Try it: Click on this picture to get to Inna's blog, and create away!

Now... What to send to sponsored BOYS?

I am angry.

Sifa

As I've written before, I sponsor a woman in the Congo through Women for Women International. I have written letters to Sifa, but I haven't received any. Today I found out why: Sifa is completely illiterate. She only has "some primary" education. So she is completely unable to write, or to read.

But that's not why I'm angry.

I found this out through a questionnaire that Sifa filled out on attending her first class with Women for Women. The questionnaire gives a picture of a life that is probably all too common across the world, and one that appears destined to be repeated by Sifa's children. That should make everyone angry.

Here are the answers to Sifa's questionnaire:

She has three children, two boys and a girl.

Are they school-aged? Yes

Are they in school? No

If not in school, why not? No money

What education level have you attained? Some primary

Can you read more than your name? No

Can you write more than your name? No

Does your dwelling have electricity? No

What is the main source of lighting? Kerosene

Source of water? Public standpipe

Are you working? Yes (She didn't answer the question about type of work.)

General health of your family? Poor

Have you lost any family members from war, violence, poverty, illness, or political oppression? Yes

What would you like to achieve by participating in this program? (She didn't answer.)

I am so angry.

WHY am I complaining this morning about the internet not working in our house?

Why am I looking around at all the things I need to get rid of to clean our house for my parents' visit next week?

Why do I have so much--so much stuff, so many choices, so many dreams, so much health, so much education--and she has nothing?

Why?

Why aren't more people more angry?

Bob and I have been talking about my passion for sponsorship, and how to convince more people to get on board. Why don't we feel an urgent need to take care of Sifa and her children? There are means available. Why aren't more of us doing more?

I dream about a world in which we feel as responsible for Sifa's children as we do our own. It doesn't just take a village; it takes a globe. Imagine a world in which we all "adopted" each other, fed each other, clothed each other, educated each other. Surely that's what God intends.

Meanwhile, NPR did another story about Somalia, and the famine, poverty, and violence going on there, which the world appears to be ignoring. The reporter interviewed a young mother there and asked her how they survive.

"We don't survive," she answered, "We exist."

Shouldn't we all be angry?

If you're angry, please PLEASE go to Women for Women and sponsor a woman like Sifa. Or come volunteer at the Run for Congo Women July 31 in Denver. Please?

The Sponsored Child Writing Group

Here is the cover of the book I made for Agartha.

We had our first get-together today, and although only one family came, we did make really COOL books for our sponsored children. Rosie, an avid crafter, came and taught us how to make them. She promises more cool crafts for future months!

I made a book for Agartha in Ghana. And the timing was perfect, as I got her info packet in the mail today!

Drew shows the book he is making

Rosie with her cool dye-cutting machine

The books are made from small paper lunch bags. That means each page is a pocket that can hold a tabbed card with a secret message!

And the secret message...

From here on, I'll show the pages with the secret message pulled out. This was SO fun!

Bob accuses me of being a tree-hugger. Guess I proved it here.

Sticker daffodils plus photo of my real daffodils...

Love the "bubble" stickers!

I was glad I got Agartha's packet today, so I could scan her photo and add it to this page!

The end!

So... I'll pack this with a letter to Agartha, and hope she gets it! The FAQ page at Compassion says you can no longer send books or booklets, but right under that it gives instructions for making a small photo album to send, so maybe this is still OK...

BEWARE! I may try to drag you into this!

This Women for Women thing is getting out of hand. I am SO excited by it. So naturally, I picked up A Thousand Sisters, by Lisa Shannon, who has become a real moving force in the world of Making Life Better for Women in the Congo. Turns out, she's formed a whole organization with all kinds of ways to get involved. 

I just started reading her book, and all I know is, I want to be more involved. And to drag my friends (and students) along with me!

There are so many ways to get involved and make a difference in the lives of people who have been largely ignored by the world. The problems seem huge and insurmountable, but people like Lisa are showing that ordinary folks like you and me CAN make an impact.

Join me?

HOW:

Sponsor a woman in need: www.womenforwomen.org

Read Lisa's book 

Watch for information about this summer's Run for Congo Women

Like Yoga? There's also a Yoga for Congo Women organization!

Learn more about women in Congo. There are links to videos and articles here.

And here.

Did I mention sponsor a woman?

Children Catching It!

As part of our Bible Study gift exchange, in which we gave each other gift cards to charities, my daughter received a Kiva gift card. She chose to lend to Bayram Isgandarov in Azerbaijan, to enable him to buy 10 more sheep for his flock.

She is so excited!

She has learned that there is no rush as rush-y as giving. It is the most addictive activity out there. Now she is urging me to take on another sponsored child (yipes!), and she wants to (finally!) clean her room to earn allowance, so that she can help with a sponsorship.

How cool is that?!

Ideas for Small Groups/Bible Studies This Christmas

This year, our small group is doing something different for our Christmas party. Instead of the usual "white elephant" gift exchange (what an *American* concept!), we are giving each other gift certificates to charities. We'll each purchase a gift certificate/card from a favorite charity and bring it to the party. We'll do our usual game (My husband reads--very dramatically-- How the Grinch Stole Christmas, and every time he says the word "who" we pass the gift in our hands to the next person. At the end of the story, the gift in your hands is now yours!).

One of the ladies had a brilliant idea: We are giving each gift certificate in a coffee mug (now dubbed "a cup of love"), so that as we use the mug through the year, we can remember the charity who received our gift. (The mug I have pictured above can be found here--I think it would be perfect for this kind of gift exchange!)

Here is a list of charities (my favorites) that I compiled for the group. Maybe you have a group that might like to use this idea? Some will involve the buyer choosing how the donation is spent, and some (like Kiva and Donors Choose) give the recipient the fun of choosing:

Charity gift card options

1. Charity Choice: You choose the amount, buy the card; the recipient chooses the charity from 14 categories of charities.
2. World Vision Gift Catalog: Give a rabbit, a goat, a soccer ball, etc. Most items are $25.00 or more, but on the lower left side of this page, you’ll find the option to look at items that are “under $20.”
3. Kenya Kids in Need: This is a charity that I work with a lot. This URL takes you to our online shop. It is set up to allow sponsors to buy gifts (and necessities) for our sponsored children, but you can always put in “greatest need” in the memo line, and they will distribute the item. In the case of an item (like a pair of shoes), they will email you a photo of the child with the item (can take up to 2 months before you get the photo).
4. Donors Choose: This organization supports U.S. classroom teachers. On this page, you can either have a gift card mailed to you, print it yourself, or have it emailed to the recipient. Minimum $10 donation, and the recipient then chooses the classroom project to support. When it is funded, the person who chose the project to support will receive an emailed "thank you" from the teacher.
5. Kiva: A little bit different; a gift card for Kiva lets the recipient choose an entrepreneur to support with a “microloan.” Minimum $25. When the loan is repaid, you receive notice that your $25 is now available to reloan, donate to Kiva, or cash out.
6. The Heifer Project: Similar to World Vision gift catalog; you choose the gift (a share of a gift of trees, or a share of a pig, etc.) and then you can print out a gift card that announces the gift.
7. LifeChange: This is our very own Vineyard’s program. Cool part: 100% of the donation goes to the charity; no administrative fees or anything.
8. Compassion International also has a gift catalog; you may purchase a number of items for needy children across the world, like a soccer ball ($13), a chicken ($16), or a goat ($45).
   

I would love to see Christmas become a holiday where this sort of thing is the norm rather than the exception. (My husband patiently explains to me that our economy would collapse if everyone donated to charity rather than buying unneeded items for each other.... Hmmmm...) But imagine a world where there was this huge holiday, with music and decorations, and concerts, and ... everyone helped make life a little better for someone else!